Once upon a time, parents read to their children at night. But the bedtime story is in decline, according to a new survey. Photograph: Murdo Macleod

A bedtime story used to be a way for children and parents to bond at the end of the day, but the tradition has undergone a dramatic decline in a single generation.

A poll of 2,000 mothers with children aged 0-7 years, carried out by the clothing and homeware retailer Littlewoods, highlighted the extent of the change. Only 64% of respondents said they read their children bedtime stories, even though 91% were themselves read bedtime stories when young.

The survey also found that in previous generations, parents who read bedtime stories did so more regularly than their modern counterparts. Only 13% of respondents read a story to their children every night, but 75% recall being read to every night when they were kids. On average, today's parents read bedtime stories to their children three times a week.

The findings are all the more surprising since 87% of those polled believe that bedtime reading is vital to children's education and development.

One of the major challenges appears to lie in getting children to pay attention to books. Nearly half of those surveyed said their children found television, computer games and other toys more diverting, while 4% said their children do not own any books at all.